Can anyone identify this critter?

[mynah]

Forgot to mention they're mostly in the garage, rather than the house.

Round here we have an unremarkable creature called a sac spider. I got bitten by one (I think - didn't see it in action) a few weeks ago. It felt like a flea bite - small and very itchy - and I didn't think much of it until I woke up in the night and found four weals on my arm. Two days later it looked like this:

[Ganoderma]

sure it was a spider? pretty hard to get bit by most spiders, possible but not as common as thought.

and i think almost every single spider is venomous...but the back of my noggin tells me there is a few species that lack venom glands or fangs or something....too long ago to remember.

many spiders are just too tiny to bite humans, thats why the oh so toxic black widow has so few bite records, cause its just SO HARD to get bit by them. that and the fact many of the super toxic spiders are not as aggressive (although some are).

I am not too sure about your spider, but from that picture, a specie ID will be impossible.

[jab2]

Sac Spider not really big if I remember correctly, but does give one nasty bite similar to mynah's.

Another nasty spider in SA is the violin spider or recluse spider. See this interesting page on harmful spiders in South Africa and this one of a violin spider bite.

[mynah]

Although I didn't see the culprit, I'd say it was most likely a sac spider (Cheiracanthium), as:

These spiders are common at the locality;
They are less reclusive than violin spiders, and often bite when accidentally trapped between skin and clothes;
The itchiness, followed by blistering, is more consistent with sac spider bite than that of the violin spider, which is usually painless, but causes worse necrosis.

I also know of no other arthropod bite that causes the same set of symptoms.

[mynah]

I'd love to show my friend the critter that surfaced when I watered the garden yesterday - but she might stop visiting... It is enormous: Though I thought it best not to take a direct measurement, the post on which the spider is sitting measures 4 cm on the left side and 12 cm on the right. Any guesses as to its identity?

[Cedars]

Originally Posted by mynah

I'd love to show my friend the critter that surfaced when I watered the garden yesterday - but she might stop visiting... It is enormous: Though I thought it best not to take a direct measurement, the post on which the spider is sitting measures 4 cm on the left side and 12 cm on the right. Any guesses as to its identity?

Try the rain spider. Picture here shows the white band with black border. I would guess thats an ID point.

Spider Club of Southern Africa

additional info:

Fishing Owl

[mynah]

Thanks - hard to decide, though. It does not seem to be the local rain spider that I know well - that one is darker and somehow different-looking, although without a live specimen at hand the difference is difficult to pinpoint. I showed it to my sister, who also thought it was a different species. Still, it is very possibly a relative, and if I spot my garden pet again, I'll know what to look for!

[Cedars]

Originally Posted by mynah

Thanks - hard to decide, though. It does not seem to be the local rain spider that I know well - that one is darker and somehow different-looking, although without a live specimen at hand the difference is difficult to pinpoint. I showed it to my sister, who also thought it was a different species. Still, it is very possibly a relative, and if I spot my garden pet again, I'll know what to look for!

Maybe you got lucky and encountered an uncommon spider.

Heres more on the Rain spider.

Palystes (rain spiders, lizard-eating spiders)

"The diagnostic features are a white moustachial stripe below the anterior (front) eyes and extending down the chelicerae (fangs) as well as banding on the ventral (underside) of the legs."
*maybe next time you could pick it up and photograph its underside

S. Africa has 13 species in the genus Palystes, though it seems some are kinda isolated. Could be this one hitchhiked into you area. Could also be some local construction dislodged this guy from its preferred location.

If you do get a positive ID on this one, you might want to think about submitting it to the above link to increase their data. It is a nice picture.